Friday, January 31, 2014

I love Currently! Last month I didnt get it together...so I knew I had to this time!

Listening - HIMYM (or How I Met Your Mother for the uninitiated). In the past month I have worked my way through 8 seasons. It is my favourite show! I am so sad that it is the last season

Thinking - Next week is our first week with our new Kinders. We are going to do a bee craft, school bus and an 'a' inspired craft. And it is all prepped and cut! Except for the googly eyes - why cant they sell packs with ALL THE SAME SIZED EYES?????

Wanting - After seeing a fantastic video on Deanna Jump's Facebook about using magnetic wands to blend CVC words, I knew I had to get my own. And they are on the way according to my emails ;)

Which is the fib? If you comment with the correct answer, I will send you an item of your choice up to a $5 value. Dont forget your email.

I havent linked up for such a long time but being back in the classroom makes me excited and I want to share with you what I got up to this week.

On Tuesday we returned to work after a 5 week break....bleh!

In my state (NSW) all Kindergarten students are to be assessed using the Best Start Assessment within the first 5 weeks of school. We choose to do it in the first few days so we can sit one on one and then students start the week after. So I think after a total of 20 assessments...I was pretty over the story "The Long Walk" (I can hear other NSW teachers nodding)

My little girl went back to school too - into Year 1! I cant believe Kinder is behind her. My son starts Kinder on Monday so expect another pic next week. After her second day, she told me Year 1 was very hard. Love that kid.

I know you have seen these on pinterest and maybe even made your own. This is my first attempt at the 1st day of school frame (sorry about the glare in this pic)

First week we look at 'a' so this is my test run of our craft for 'a'. Another Pinterest inspired creation with a Brooke twist :) Click the pic to grab the 'a' and the leaves (thanks to Mel @Graphics from the Pond for the leaf clip art)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Well I have been on holidays for 5 weeks. In the words of Barney Stinson it has been

legen----wait for it-----dary.

Unfortunately, my blog seems to have been enjoying a similar holiday.

A group of my bloggy buddies and I were talking about it and decided a fun way to get back to it would be a linky. So here it is!

Your post can be about anything! Back to school, snow days, a new freebie. You pick! Its just a way to show your blog you care.

Just grab the image, stick it in your post and link back here. It would be great if you could visit another blog and comment!

I am getting ready for BTS here in Sydney Australia! My first week back will look a little sonething like this:

*Monday - Day off for Australia Day

*Tuesday - Staff only professional development day

*Wednesday - Friday - meet new Kindergartens one on one for their Best Start Assessment. This is a sit down one on one assessment which takes about 30minutes per child. It goes through basic literacy and math skills and gives teachers an indication of where they need to begin with each child. More info can be found HERE. I'll also tidy my classroom up a bit.

My second week is when the fun will begin! The kids start on Monday and we try to keep them as a big group at least for a week (at this stage we have 48 enrolled). This way we can get a better look at which personalities should be separated, who is ESL, evenly spread boys and girls etc. Although this isn't an exact science, we try to make it even across the classes. We will be having 2 Kinder classes and a K/1 class with 8-10 kinders.

A few of my first week back activities will be making bees to go with our school rules (Be Kind Be Safe Be Fair) and buses (because we are on the road to learning). I definitely share these with you when we are there! We will also start with our first alphabet letter focus (a) and introduce our first 3 sounds (a m t), as well as our number focus (0).

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

As Aussie teachers get ready to go back for a new year, its always good to share what things get us through the good times and the bad as teachers.

Thanks Lauren for hosting this fun linky.

1. Top Tip for Classroom Organisation

FILE! I got this tip from my friend Mel From the Pond. When ever you get a paper at a staff meeting....decide what to do with it! I bought an expanding file and made some labels. If it was minutes, they were filed there. PD was filed in a different tab, Literacy in another one (you get the idea).

2. Top Tip for Behaviour Management

Focus on the positive! I know this is easier said than done but it is important to remind ourselves of this occasionally.

3. Top Tip for being a Team Player

This one is hard! I think often it is a bit about letting the control go...You dont HAVE to do everything yourself. If someone offers a hand, take it! Likewise,offer your hand too.

4. Top Tip for Time Management

Set yourself working hours. Make sure you leave by x o'clock. It can be easy to say..lll just do one more thing. But make sure that your job doesnt become your everything! Make time for yourself, your partner and your family

5. Top Tip for Engaging Students

Make things NEW! Hands on activities, fresh ideas, speaking in a funny voice! You need to look for the thing to catch students attention. Make it interesting and new and the students are yours.

6. Top Tips for getting along with Parents

Professionalism. Most parents just want to know that their children and happy and looked after. Conduct your interactions with parents in a way that is professional while communicating the importance of their child.

7. Top Tip for Teacher Fashion.

FLATS!

8. Top Tip for Bargain hunting

Dollar stores, hardware shops, op shops. Make your money go further by being resourceful and turning unusual things into class resources. For example, you know those super cute animal/transport/fruit math manipulatives that you get from teacher stores? I went to Kmart and bought some packs of insects - perfect for counting, sorting, sharing!

9.Top Tip for Eating well at School

Last year I lost nearly 20kg by doing Weight Watchers. To keep on track at school, I drank lots of water, made sure I had my apple for Crunch and Sip every day and took frozen WW meals for lunch each day.

10. Top Tip for Staying Sane

Sometimes, it is very easy for things to become a lot bigger than they really are or more emotional. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves to just let things go. We cant fix the world in a day, we cant control everyone and everything. Just control what you can and do the best that you can on that given day.